Railway cattle-guard



No. 6I4,0I8. Patented Nov. 8, I898. C. H. MATHIS.

RAILWAY CATTLE GUARD.

(Application filed May 23, 1898) INVEN 0/? 96.

A YTOHNE Y8.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. MATHIS, OF BOWIE, TEXAS.

RAILWAY CATTLE-G UARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,018, dated November8, 1898.

Application filed May 23, 1898. Serial No. 681,488. (No model.)

1'0 016 whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. MATHIS,

of Bowie, in the county of Montague and State of Texas, have invented anew and Improved Railway Cattle-Guard, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a cattle-guard for railwayswhich will be exceedingly simple, durable, and economic, the guard beingso constructed that it will be antomatically opened by the action of thewheels of the engine of an advancing train and whereby, furthermore, theguard will close automatically the moment that the train has passed. I

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indi catecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of track and thecattle-guard applied thereto, the guard being closed. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of a portion of a track and a perspective view of thecattle-guard, the cattleguard being shown as opened; and Fig. 3 is atransverse section through the rails of the track, taken in front of thecattle-guard, the guard being in its closed position.

A represents one rail of a track, Bthe opposite rail, and O the sleepersupon which the rails rest. The cattle-guard consists, primarily, of agate made in three independent sectionsnamely, a middle section D,adapted to operate parallel with the rails of the track and locatedbetween the said rails, and side gates D and D which are placed outsideof the rails of the track and operate transversely to the said rails.

A shaft 10 is mounted in suitable bearings 11 between the rails A and Bof the track, the shaft being at right angles to the said rails, asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, and to the said shaft 10 a frame 12 is secured,which frame constitutes a portion of the main section D of the gate.This frame 12 is of sufficient width to extend nearly from rail to railand is strengthened near its bottom by a crossbar 13, palings 14 beingsecured to the said cross-bar and made to pass through the upperbar ofthe said frame.

Anarm 15 is projected downward from the central portion of the shaft 10,and the said arm terminates at its lower end in a crosshead 16, wherebythe arm pal-takes of the contour of an inverted T, as illustratedparticularly in Fig. 3. In connection with the main or central section Dof the guard two tripbars are employed, (designated, respectively, as 17and 18.) These bars at their inner ends are secured to opposite sides ofthe main section D of the guard and extend in opposite directionstherefrom, one parallel with the rail A and the other parallel with therail B. Each trip-bar is provided at the inner longitudinal edge of itstread-surface a with a longitudinal flange 19, (shown best near the railB in Fig. 1.) The trip-bars 1'7 and 18 are in the path of the wheels ofan engine approaching the guard from either direction. The farther endsof the trip-bars are carried downward quite close to the sleepers, theends which are attached to the central section of the-guard beingnormally at an elevation above the rails. The farther end of each of thetrip-bars is pivotally attached to a crank-arm 20 of a rockshaft 21,suitably journaled upon one of the sleepers, and the inner end of eachshaft 21 is provided with a handle or a lever 22,which normally extendsin a vertical direction, the handles or levers 22 being located aboutmidway between the rails. It will be understood that the trip-bars maybe of any desired length.

The side sections D and D? of the guard are of like construction. Eachside section consists of a frame 23, carrying palings 24, and each sideframe 23 is at a right angle to the rail adjacent to which it islocated. Each frame 23 is secured upon a rocking frame 25, the rockingframes being parallel with the rails of the track, the shafts 26 of therocking frames being secured to convenient sleepers near their outerends. Springs 27 are coiled around the shafts 26, and one end of eachspring is preferably carried beneath a rail, while the other end of thespring has bearing against the upper bar of the rocking frame in whichit is located. The springs 27 serve to normally hold the side sectionsof the cattle-guard in an upright position and in trans verse alinementwith the central section D, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. A metal loop 29is made to connect the lower ends 28 of each rocking frame 25. Theseloops are horizontal and extend in direction of each other and areconnected with the head portion of the arm 15 of the central shaft 10 bymeans of links 30, as is best shown in Fig. 3.

In operation, the gates of the cattle-guard being in their upright ornormal position, when a train approaches the guard the lever 22 in thepath of the train will be forced downward and the central section D ofthe gate will be carried to a horizontal position, falling in directionof the travel of the train flatly between the rails of the track, whilethe outer sections of the guard will be carried in a transversedirection away from the rails or in opposite directions from the centralsection, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Before the lever 22 is released thewheels of the engine will have entered upon one of the trip-bars,causing the sections of the guard to remain in their open position,permitting the safe passage of the train, and the gate-sections of theguard will be held open until the Wheels of the last car shall havepassed over the tripbar with which they last come into engagement. Assoon as the train has passed the springs 26 will act to restore thegate-sections to their normal or upright position, as shown in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a cattle-guard for railway-tracks, a gatecomprising a main section pivoted between the rails of a track, sidesections located outside of the rails of the track, the side sectionsbeing spring-controlled and connected with the central section, and atrip device arranged to be operated by a passing train, the said tripdevice being connected with a section of the gate, as set forth.

2. In a cattle-guard for railway-tracks, a central section pivotedbetween the rails and adapted when open to lie horizontally between therails parallel therewith, springcontrolled side sections locatedopposite to the rails and having movement to and from the rails, aconnection between the side sections of the gate and the centralsection, and trip-bars adapted to be operated by the wheels of a passingtrain, the said trip-bars being attached to the central gate-section,extending in opposite directions therefrom, for the purpose specified.

3. In a cattle-guard for railway-tracks, the combination, with a centralgate-section pivoted between the rails of the track and adapted to bedropped horizontally between the rails, side sections located at theouter sides of the rails of the track, the side sections being normallyin alinement with the central section of the gate and adapted to move toand from the rails, of spring-controlled rocking frames attached to theside sections, a connection between the rocking frames and the pivot ofthe central gate-section, and tripbars attached to the sides of thecentral gatesection, extending parallel with the rails in oppositedirections from said central gatesection, as and for the purposespecified.

4. In a cattle-guard for railway-tracks, the combination, with a centralgate-section pivoted between the rails of the track and adapted to bedropped horizontally between the said rails, side sections located atthe outer sides of the rails of the track, the side sections beingnormally in alinement with the central section of the gate and adaptedto move to and from the said rails, of springcontrolled rocking framesattached to the side sections, a connection between the rocking framesand the pivot of the central gate-section, trip-bars attached to thesides of the central gate-section, extending parallel with the rails inopposite directions from said central gate-section, crank-shaftsattached to the farther ends of the trip-bars, and levers attached tothe crank-shafts, as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a railway cattle-guard, a gate constructed in three sections, acentral section between the tracks adapted to operate in a directionparallel with the rails of a track, and side sections located outside ofthe rails of the track, the side sections being springcontrolled andarranged to operate in a direction transversely to the rails of thetrack, a connection between the outer and the central sections of thegate, and trip-bars operating the gate-sections and arranged to beoperated by the wheels of a passing train, for the purpose set forth.

CHARLES H. MATIIIS.

Witnesses:

H. T. DOUGLAS, T. E. BovvERs.

ICO

